Pipe and casing tongs.



T. MILLS.

PIPE AND CASING TONGS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 19, 1909.

GRAHAM c0 mum-mammals. wunluarou n c.

Patented Sept. 14, 1909.

UNITED STATES PATENT orrien.

THEODORE MILLS, F QOALINGA, CALIFORNIA, ASSIG-NOR OF ONE-HALF TO SAMUELALLEN GUIBERSON, JR., OF GOALINGA, CALIFORNIA.

PIPE AND CASING TONGS.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE MILLS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Coalinga, in the county of Fresno and State of California,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pipe and CasingTongs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of pipe or casing tongs, in which thegripping jaws are alternately forced to and relieved from their work, bythe swinging of the handle. These tongs are particularly adapted forscrewing into place successive sections of r well casing, though theymay be used for the turning of any pipes.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, economical andeffective pipe or casing tongs, which are easily applied and have notendency to crush or mutilate the pipe; and to this end, my inventionconsists in the novel tongs which I shall now fully describe, byreference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a plan view of my tongs, showing the jaws closed. Fig. 2 isa similar view showing the jaws open. Fig. 3 is an edge view of thetongs.

1 is a stock comprising two plates, between which is bolted the handle2. The stock, at its forward end, is formed with a head 3, laterallyinclined.

4 is the main jaw, and 5 is the complemental jaw. These are hingedtogether at their forward ends, by the pin 6. The two jaws involvebetween them the circumference of the pipe or casing to be gripped. Theshank 7 of the main jaw enters the forward end of the stock 1, and itsextremity is pivoted therein by a bolt 8. Forward of this pivotalcenter, the shank 7 has fitted through it a guide pin 9, which plays inan elongated slot 10 in the head of the stock. Fitted through theextremity of the stockhead is a pin 11, upon which an elongated slot 12in the shank 18 of the complemental jaw 5 plays.

The operation of the tongs is as follows: To fit the implement to thepipe or casing, the pin 11 is withdrawn from the stock, either wholly,or sufliciently to free the shank 13 of the jaw 5; and said jaw may thenbe swung wide open. \Vhen the tool is I 011 the pipe, the aw 5 is swungclosed again,

and the pin 11 is reinserted. Now, assuming Specification of LettersPatent.

Application filed April 19, 1909.

Patented Sept. 14, 1909.

Serial No. 490,658.

this to be the position shown in Fig. 2, be fore the tongs are clampedupon the pipe, it will be seen that if the handle :2 be moved toward theobserver, the effect will be to swing the jaw 5 toward the jaw 4, by thepressure of the stock-head acting through the pin 11, which pin pressesupon and travels in the slot 12 of the jaw shank. This movement of thestock-head is permitted, as far as the main jaw is concerned, by themain pivot bolt 8 and the elongated slot 10. which plays upon the pin 9in the shank of said jaw. These interrelative movements continue until,as seen in Fig. 1, they come to an end when the two pins 11 and 9 are atthe ends of their respective slots, whiclr represent the completemovements, assuming, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the absence of the pipeor casing to be clamped, and the perfect closing of the jaws. Nhen thepipe or casing, however, is present, it will be understood that thesemovements stop short of the full limit, with the effect of causing thejaws, under the pressure on the handle, to grip the pipe or casing withan increasing bite, until said pipe or casing rotatively yields to themotion of the tongs. Upon the return or back movement of the handle, thejaws, under the reverse pressure, positively separate as shown in Fig.2, relieve the pipe, and turn thereon freely for a repetition of thefirst operation.

In the face of the main jaw, are best inserted biting teeth 14. The hole15 in the end of the handle represents the point of connection of thecrankconnected cable which, when the tongs are suspended and used forwell-casing, operates the implement in one direction. The eye-bolt 16 inthe side of the handle, represents the point of connection for theweight suspending cable which moves the device in the other direction.

By removing the bolt 8 and the two pins 9 and 11, the jaws may beseparated from the handle and stock, for convenient transportation, orthe substitution of jaws of different sizes to work on different pipes.By circumscribing the pipe with two jaws only, there is less tendency tocrush or throw the pipe out of shape, and by having aws whichapproximate the diameter of the casing or pipe, their pressure can beregulated with such accuracy, that it will be sufficient to turn thepipe; any excess, tending to crush or mutilate it, being prevented bythe coming l l THEODORE MILLS. I

together of the meeting extremities of the jaws as shown in Fig. 1.

The whole tool is simple in construction and readily applied to thepipe, fitting it with accuracy and convenience and with no unduecrushing tendency.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:-

A pipe or casing tongs comprising a handled-stock having a laterallyinclined head, provided with an elongated slot in its outer angle; amain jaw, having a shank with a pin playing in the slot of the head,said shank being pivoted to the head at a point Witnesses E. L. R.TRIMBLE, J. WV. FLUETscH.

